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Assessment of volatile organic compound removal by indoor plants—a novel experimental setup

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Abstract

Indoor plants can remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the air. The majority of knowledge comes from laboratory studies where results cannot directly be transferred to real-life settings. The aim of this study was to develop an experimental test system to assess VOC removal by indoor plants which allows for an improved real-life simulation. Parameters such as relative humidity, air exchange rate and VOC concentration are controlled and can be varied to simulate different real-life settings. For example, toluene diffusion through a needle gave concentrations in the range of 0.10–2.35 μg/L with deviations from theoretical values of 3.2–10.5 %. Overall, the system proved to be functional for the assessment of VOC removal by indoor plants with Hedera helix reaching a toluene removal rate of up to 66.5 μg/m2/h. The mode of toluene exposure (semi-dynamic or dynamic) had a significant influence on the removal rate obtained by H. helix.

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Acknowledgments

The study was funded by a PhD grant from the University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Sciences and Henrik Tofte Jacobsen’s bursary. The authors thank Multigreen.dk A/S for supplying the plants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Højbakkegaard Allé 30, 2630, Taastrup, Denmark

    Majbrit Dela Cruz & Renate Müller

  2. Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1871, Frederiksberg C., Denmark

    Bo Svensmark & Jan H. Christensen

  3. AgroTech A/S, Højbakkegård Allé 21, 2630, Taastrup, Denmark

    Jakob Skov Pedersen

Authors
  1. Majbrit Dela Cruz
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  2. Renate Müller
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  3. Bo Svensmark
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  4. Jakob Skov Pedersen
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  5. Jan H. Christensen
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Correspondence to Majbrit Dela Cruz.

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Responsible editor: Gerhard Lammel

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Dela Cruz, M., Müller, R., Svensmark, B. et al. Assessment of volatile organic compound removal by indoor plants—a novel experimental setup. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 7838–7846 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-2695-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-2695-0

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